Tag Archives: dehydration

Dehydration can be a serious problem for older people, leading to a range of health problems including urinary tract infections, disability, hospital admissions and even death.

Now a recent joint study carried out by researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Canberra University in Australia has looked into which health conditions or factors can put people at risk of dehydration.

‘Water is crucial to every bodily action, and maintenance of hydration is essential to life,’ says lead researcher Dr Lee Hooper from UEA. ‘We know that dehydration is difficult to identify. Older people tend not to feel thirsty when they drink too little. On top of that – as our kidneys get older we are less able to concentrate our urine to preserve fluid, so the body’s ability to regulate its fluid balance slowly reduces.

‘Until now, there has been limited and contradictory evidence about which health factors are associated with dehydration in older adults. We wanted to find out whether any particular conditions are associated with dehydration in order to understand its prevalence and pinpoint which individuals are most at risk.’

The researchers looked at the hydration status of 188 over-65s from 56 residential care homes and compared different cognitive, functional and health factors, including whether they were continent, their temperature, weight medication they were taking and whether they had dementia.

They discovered that those with kidney problems, dementia and diabetes were most at risk of dehydration.

‘We found a strong correlation between both poor cognitive function and dehydration,’ said Dr Hooper. ‘But it is quite possible that dehydration is the cause of poor cognitive function, and that the relationship works in a vicious circle.

‘We hope that this research will enable carers to pinpoint which frail older people are most likely to suffer dehydration.’

Whether your loved one with dementia lives at home or in a care home, you can help them to stay well hydrated by providing them with water that is easy to absorb, or setting up reminders for them to have a drink on a regular basis.

During nearly 19 years of clinical practice I have had the opportunity to observe the health effects of drinking different types of water. Most of you would agree that drinking unfiltered tap water could be hazardous to your health because of things like

parasites

chlorine

fluoride

dioxins

Many health fanatics, however, are often surprised to hear me say that drinking distilled water on a regular, daily basis is potentially dangerous.

Paavo Airola wrote about the dangers of distilled water in the 1970’s when it first became a fad with the health food crowd.

Distillation is the process in which water is boiled, evaporated and the vapour condensed. Distilled water is free of dissolved minerals and, because of this, has the special property of being able to actively absorb toxic substances from the body and eliminate them. Studies validate the benefits of drinking distilled water when one is seeking to cleanse or detoxify the system for short periods of time (a few weeks at a time).

Fasting using distilled water can be dangerous because of the rapid loss of electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride) and trace minerals like magnesium, deficiencies of which can cause heart beat irregularities and high blood pressure. Cooking foods in distilled water pulls the minerals out of them and lowers their nutrient value.

Distilled water is an active absorber and oxidant when it comes into contact with air, it absorbs carbon dioxide, making it acidic. The more distilled water a person drinks, the higher the body acidity becomes.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Distilled water, being essentially mineral-free, is very aggressive, in that it tends to dissolve substances with which it is in contact. Notably, carbon dioxide from the air is rapidly absorbed, making the water acidic and even more aggressive. Many metals are dissolved by distilled water.”

The most toxic commercial beverages that people consume (i.e. cola beverages and other soft drinks) are made from distilled water. Studies have consistently shown that heavy consumers of soft drinks (with or without sugar) spill huge amounts of calcium, magnesium and other trace minerals into the urine.

The more mineral loss, the greater the risk for osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, hypothyroidism, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and a long list of degenerative diseases generally associated with premature aging.

A growing number of health care practitioners and scientists from around the world have been advocating the theory that aging and disease is the direct result of the accumulation of acid waste products in the body.

There is a great deal of scientific documentation that supports such a theory. A poor diet may be partially to blame for the waste accumulation.

These and other junk foods can cause the body to become more acidic:

meats

sugar

alcohol

fried foods

soft drinks

processed foods

white flour products

dairy products

Stress, whether mental or physical can lead to acid deposits in the body.

There is a correlation between the consumption of soft water (distilled water is extremely soft) and the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Cells, tissues and organs do not like to be dipped in acid and will do anything to buffer this acidity including the removal of minerals from the skeleton and the manufacture of bicarbonate in the blood.

“The longer one drinks distilled water, the more likely the development of mineral deficiencies and an ACID state”.

I have done well over 3000 mineral evaluations using a combination of blood, urine and hair tests in my practice. Almost without exception, people who consume distilled water exclusively, eventually develop multiple mineral deficiencies.

Those who supplement their distilled water intake with trace minerals are not as deficient but still not as adequately nourished in minerals as their non-distilled water drinking counterparts even after several years of mineral supplementation.

The ideal water for the human body should be slightly alkaline and this requires the presence of minerals like

calcium

magnesium

Distilled water tends to be acidic and can only be recommended as a way of drawing poisons out of the body in a very short period of time.Once this is accomplished, the continued drinking of distilled water is a bad idea.

Water filtered through reverse osmosis tends to be less acidic and is acceptable for regular use, but mineral water is better

Water filtered through a solid charcoal filter or ionizer is slightly alkaline. Longevity is associated with the regular consumption of hard water (high in minerals). Disease and early death is more likely to be seen with the long term drinking of distilled water.